Shomi Kaiser

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Shomi Kaiser
শমী কায়সার
Shami Kaiser.jpg
Kaiser in 2016
Born15 January 1970
NationalityBangladeshi
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
  • producer
Spouses
  • (m. 1999;div. 2001)
  • (m. 2008;div. 2015)
  • Reza Amin
    (m. 2020)
Parents
Relatives
  • Amitav Kaiser (brother)

Shomi Kaiser is a Bangladeshi actress and political activist. [1] [2] She is currently the managing director of Dhansiri Communications Ltd, an advertising and event management company. [3]

Contents

Early life and family

Kaiser was born to Shahidullah Kaiser and Panna Kaiser (née Saifunnahar Chowdhury) on 15 January. [4] [5] Her father was a writer-novelist. Shomi Kaiser was two years old when her father was taken from home by Al Badr militia and Pakistani Army on 14 December, 1971. His body was never found. Her mother, Panna Kaiser, was a writer and former M.P. [6]

Shomi Kaiser has a younger brother, Amitav Kaiser. [6] Their maternal uncle is former president of Bangladesh A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, whose wife, Maya, is the sister of Panna Kaiser. [7]

Career

Shomi Kaiser received her first break In 1989, when director Atiqul Haque Chowdhury was looking for a young actress who could speak Noakhali dialect for his play Keba Apon Keba Por. [8] Next she worked on the three episode play Joto Durey Jai, based on a novel by Imdadul Haque Milon, directed by Abdullah al Mamun. [8] She worked for Dhaka Theatre for 12 years. [9] She appeared in Haat Hodai (with Shahiduzzaman Selim). She appeared in such films as Hason Raja (2002) and Lalon (2004). She was featured in Ekti Nadir Naam (2002), based on the biography of filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak. [8] She later emerged as a producer. She has owned Dhansiri Productions since 1997, [9] which produced Mukti and Antorey Nirantor. [8] In November 2013, her firm, Dhanshiri Communication Limited, got a license for a private radio channel named Radio Active. [10]

In 2017, Kaiser was elected as one of the directors of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI). In 2018, she was elected as the president of e-Commerce Association (e-CAB). [11] At the aftermath of 2024 non-cooperation movement, she resigned from the position on 13 August 2024. [12]

She was nominated in the election as a representative of the Sammilita Ganotantrik Parishad panel. [13]

In November 2018, Kaiser applied for nomination for the Feni-3 constituency on behalf of Bangladesh Awami League party. [14]

Personal life

Kaiser has been married three times. Her first husband was Indian-Bengali film director Riingo Banerjee, whom she married in 1999 and divorced two years later. [15] [16] Her second husband, Mohammad A. Arafat, is a private university faculty member, whom she married in 2008 and divorced in 2015. [15] [16] In 2020, she married her third husband, Reza Amin, the chief executive officer of Euro-Vigil Private Limited. [3] [16] [17]

Criticism

Shomi Kaiser took a stand for the government during the repression of the autocratic Awami League government on the students in the quota reform movement that took place in 2024. [18] During the movement, a group of pro-autocracy Awami artists, including Shomi Kaiser, were active against the movement in a WhatsApp group called 'Alo Ashbei' [19] led by actor Ferdous. After the non-cooperation movement, on September 3, 2024, some screenshots related to that WhatsApp group were spread on social media. [20] [21] Shomi Kaiser went into hiding after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government on 5 August 2024. She was arrested on 6 November 2024 by the police from a house in Sector-4 Uttara on murder chargers. [22]

Works

Telefilms
Television plays
Television serials

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References

  1. "A daughter's quest to discover her father". The Daily Star. 2 April 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  2. "Shomi Kaiser After the Curtain Falls Down". The Daily Star. 14 December 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Third time lucky for Shomi Kaiser?". unb.com.bd. Dhaka. United News of Bangladesh. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2020.
  4. জন্মদিন : শমী কায়সার :: দৈনিক ইত্তেফাক [Birthday: Shami Kaiser]. The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 10 January 2013. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  5. "Shomi and Panna Kaiser on "Eki Brintey" tonight". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . 19 November 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Shahidullah Kaiser was taken to Mueen, Ashraf". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . 20 August 2013.
  7. Anwar Parvez Halim (28 May 2011). "All in the family". Bengali News from Washington D.C.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Harun ur Rashid (7 February 2005). "Shomi Kaiser: In search of excellence". The Daily Star.
  9. 1 2 Sadia Khalid (14 December 2013). "Shomi Kaiser after the curtain falls down". The Daily Star (Bangladesh) .
  10. Karim, Mohosinul (27 November 2013). "13 TV, 14 FM radio stations to get licence". Dhaka Tribune.
  11. "BSS-26 Shomi Kaiser, Tomal made e-CAB's President, Secretary". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha . 2 January 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  12. ই–ক্যাবের সভাপতি পদ থেকে পদত্যাগ করলেন শমী কায়সার. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 14 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  13. "Shomi Kaiser elected as FBCCI director". Dhaka Tribune. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  14. "Stars to fight election wars". The Daily Star. 13 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  15. 1 2 প্রয়াত বুদ্ধিজীবী শহীদুল্লাহ কায়সারের কন্যা [Shami Kaiser remarried]. Bangla News from Washington DC (in Bengali). 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 16 October 2018.
  16. 1 2 3 "A new chapter begins for Shomi Kaiser". The Daily Star. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  17. "Shomi Kaiser ties the knot with Reza Ameen". New Age. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  18. "Shock and surprise grip entertainment arena after chats discovery". Daily Sun. September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  19. "Alo Ashbei WhatsApp group message leaked". The Daily Star. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  20. "'Throw hot water on protesters': 'Alo Ashbei' artistes' WhatsApp group under fire". The Daily Star. 3 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  21. "Leaked conversation of artists speaking against student movement goes viral". The Business Standard. 4 September 2024. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  22. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/shomi-kaiser-arrested-985706
  23. "Suborna Mustafa and Shomi Kaiser for the first time". The Daily Star. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  24. "Shomi-Mahfuz on screen after 11 years". The Daily Star. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  25. "Azizul Hakim Gets Nostalgic". The Daily Star. 9 June 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.